Where is the city of Surgut located? What do its official symbols look like? And how did the coat of arms of Surgut change over the years? This will tell our article.
Acquaintance with the city
The city of Surgut is located in Western Siberia, in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. Its status is an ordinary district center. Nevertheless, in terms of population (350 thousand) and economic potential, Surgut far exceeds the administrative center of its district - the city of Khanty-Mansiysk.
The main wealth of Surgut is oil and gas. In connection with this feature, the city is often called the oil capital of Russia. In 2011, he entered the top three richest cities in the country, even ahead of St. Petersburg! In addition, Surgut is an important energy center of Russia. Two of the most powerful thermal power plants on the planet are operating here - GRES-1 and GRES-2.
Despite the purely industrial specialization of the city, the cultural sphere is well developed in Surgut. There are four theaters, a philharmonic society, seven cinemas, an art gallery and a dozen different museums. The main attraction of the city is the famous Surgut (Ugra) bridge. It is one of the largest cable-stayed bridges in the world. Its total length is 2.1 kilometers. In addition, the city has many interesting and funny monuments. Among them are monuments to Smile, Condensed milk, robots and firefighters.
What does the coat of arms of Surgut look like? And how has it changed over the years? You can read more about this later.
Surgut city: coat of arms and flag
This city is primarily known for its oil. However, both the flag and the coat of arms of Surgut depict by no means an oil rig. On the official city symbols you can see the silver fox proudly walking on the ground.
Black-brown fox, silver fox or black fox - this is the morph of an ordinary fox, which differs in a specific color. From ancient times, the animal is valued for its excellent fur.
Surgut arose at the end of the 16th century. In the forests around the newly minted town, sables and black foxes were found in huge numbers. The last animal was considered almost sacred among the local peoples - Khanty and Mansi. Representatives of these ethnic groups have developed many myths and legends in honor of this unusual animal.
The modern coat of arms of the city of Surgut was approved in 2003. The shield is divided into two parts: the lower azure field and the upper field of gold color. A black and brown fox is walking along the azure land. And only the tip of the tail of the animal is silver. In general, the coat of arms pattern looks quite bright, realistic and concise.
A similar image can be seen on the rectangular panel of the modern flag of Surgut.
The historical coat of arms of Surgut: description and significance
Demand for furs in Russia has always been. And Surgut land has been a real paradise for hunters for centuries in a row. The fur, "obtained" in the local forests, was carried even to the capital. This is probably why Tsarina Catherine the Second granted Surgut a coat of arms depicting a furry animal - a black and brown fox.
This coat of arms was approved in March 1785. The shield was divided into two parts: the coat of arms of the Tobolsk province was placed in the upper azure field, and a running fox was depicted in the lower gold. True, local historians are still arguing whether it was black or still red.
In general, foxes in heraldry are considered a good symbol. He personifies cunning, foresight and resourcefulness. Khanty and did endow this animal with supernatural, magical powers.
Soviet version of the city coat of arms
In Soviet times, the black fox in Surgut was no longer held in high esteem as before. Another natural asset came to the fore - oil. The new, Soviet coat of arms of Surgut was approved in 1975. Its author was V.N. Gorda.
For the sake of justice, it must be said that the fox was not expelled from the new city coat of arms, it was left. But she had shrunk considerably and now looked a little scared. The main figure on the new coat of arms of Surgut was the oil rig, dissecting a huge silver snowflake. This snowflake, by the way, consisted of elements of folk ornament. In this way, the city’s belonging to the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug was emphasized .
It is curious that in the late 90s, the image of a fox on the emblem of the city again became the main one, and a snowflake with an oil derrick moved to the lower part of the shield and significantly decreased in size. Fortunately, the black fox has been present on the coat of arms of Surgut for more than two centuries, making it unique, memorable and inimitable.